Bathroom Feb'07

In progress...pic's here.

CCTV May'06

A few weeks ago we noticed that our original CCTV system (2 channel, b&w, video) wasn't fully functional with snowed out pictures being recorded. A pal had recently had a spate of breakin's and installed a snazzy digital system which is not only vastly superior but at a fraction of the cost. So we've just upgraded ours and replaced;

• the bulky time lapse VCR and separate switching box with a single, smaller DVR
• the two b&w cameras with four smaller, colour units complete with IR night vision so they're not reliant on ambient light or flood lights - tho they do help.

The DVR records the images directly to it's own hard drive and has the flexibility to choose high, medium or low quality images at numerous different frame rates. The lack of video tapes means that we no longer have to remember to change them or buy new ones. The DVR has also now been hooked up to our PC which can also capture video or snap shots.

The new bullet style cameras are tiny little units that are much more discete and provide a superior quality image compared to our old units. This time we've chosen to install two camera's up high up on the eve's (out of harms way) that cover the drive, a dome camera inside the garage (this used to be in a low, vunerable position on the garage eve) and a new feed from the garden to cover the patio doors.

This new kit was purchased from LightComputers, if you're interested then feel free to contact me for more info.

After fitting the new kit it seems that the original camera power supplies were defunked and once a spare arrives I'll be able to test our old system and see if it's any good for resale, possibly via eBay.

Garage Door March'06

After 20 years or more of up and over garage door it decided to part company with it's mountings which required a temporary bodge. Actually, I'm surprise that it lasted more than a couple of minutes at the upper mounts didn't go either into the wooden cross member or brickwork and we're wedged in by odd bits of wood ! So we started looking for a replacement and a few months earlier a neighbour had replaced theirs will an electronic roller that was installed in such a way that it made the garage opening around 4"s wider. This extra width would be a very good thing when the Stratos returns with it's wider arches. Bizarrely, our first visit to an installer (John Briars) was the same geezer who'd done our neighbours and we signed up as he was a fair bit cheaper than another and had done a good job next door.

Clearing all the junk and wiring from around the knackered old door was fiddly but also gave me an opportunity to tidy up along the way. Just how much junk do I collect ! Two fitters arrived and spent approximately half a day fitting the new electronic roller replacement and they seemed to enjoy Sue's sausage sandwich hospitality !

In use, the key fob makes it effortless to use although you're never quite sure that if it's open or closed as you walk away while it's operating. It's very similar to being used to lock your car with a key and then getting one with a key fob, I'm still forever running across car parks to check the door handle !

We opted for the SeceuroGlide system that offers a compact roller mechanism, insulated slats, simple yet secure locking mechanism, tidy installation and they are well sealed against the elements which should help to keep the master bedroom warmer. The roller is much quieter than the original up and over 'cos it's now very difficult to hear the door from the bedroom.

Internal Doors '05

The house originally came with flat, dark wood grain effect wooden doors with some nasty gold effect handles that no longer fitted in with our new light wood furniture. We opted for two panel doors with silver knobs that were fitted by a couple of chippy's in less than a couple of days, it would have taken me a week at best. A local painter and decorator neighbour was manoeuvred in to paint them and has done a fine job. They're now white and have given the place the final lift to match in with everything else.

Kitchen '04

Eventually we came to point where we'd lived with an ageing kitchen long enough and an alternative needed to be sourced. All the usual suppliers were checked and we particularly like the style, colour, options and coloured carcasses of The Kitchen Studio. They were also one of the few suppliers who could source lengths of work top that didn't need any joins along the length of the kitchen. Their planning service involved a home visit (a big plus) and the "designer" came up with a very good solution for arranging the area behind the kitchen door. They were able to have free lance fitters install it for us but I was keen to give it a try myself, how difficult could a flat pack kitchen be ? The only area I was keen to have a "professional" complete would be the fitment of the work tops. Some surfing revealed that Trade Appliances had good offers for quality appliances (Neff) although we initially had reservations about an electric oven. In practice it's been easy to use and is very efficient with it's cycloherm fan assistance, we also like the split level gas hob. A fridge / freezer (Seimens) was sourced from some high street retailer or other.

I took a couple of weeks off work and set to removing the old kitchen being careful to ensure that we kept as many appliances running for as long as possible before changing them out double quick. The old kitchen quickly succumbed to some muscle but the preparation of a bare room wore me down over the next 3 to 4 days. Wiring and plumbing causing me the most hassle. I was glad that we'd earlier removed the radiator when replacing the boiler as it was once less job to sort out and left us with a "cleaner" looking kitchen. To replace it, we slotted in an electronic plinth heater that can be flicked on during those cold winter days but we haven't found that we've needed it much.

The kitchen units themselves went together with ease and installing the units was very straight forward and quick. Sue enjoyed going to work and coming back to a near complete kitchen for a couple of days but the fiddly little finishing jobs seem to take ages to complete. A couple of guys from MrMitre came to fit the worktops and the corner join is almost inivisble. Now the room took on a whole new dimension as you now had a clear idea of how it was all going to work out. Paul from Service Gas came to out at short rescue and helped us plumb in our gas hob after the first fitter had let us down badly, a top geezer.

We're delighted with the results and would highly recommend doing the job yourself as it's mighty rewarding and doesn't take too much effort especially if your focused on the end result.

You'll find more pic's here.

Patio '03

With the advent of a decent conservatory /extension we were fortunate that our earlier ground work on the garden meant that we didn't need to extend the patio other than inversing a4ft corner of wall. The patio area would still be sufficient and we sourced some nice rustic, interestingly shaped (in 3 sizes) and coloured slabs to replace this hotch potch of paving that was there originally.

The ground was fairly sandy along most of the patio area so it was dug out to a good 4" or so before boarding up the edges and packing in with a sandy concrete dry mix. A liberal, yet light sprinkling of water that evening meant that we'd have a firm base on which to mount our slabs. We could have used hardcore but had an excess of sand (or our neighbours did!) from our building work so it made sense to use what we had. With one of us mixing and the other laying we managed to lay most of the slabs in a day, looking very good with the pattern created by Jack - our mathematician friend. Poor Sue managed to hand mix barrow after barrow of concrete on one of the hottest days of the year but at least the mixing area was in the shade. I'm not sure that she ever recovered from this mighty effort, although the results speak for themselves.

I was just finishing up around the side of the conservatory when Sue calmly suggested that it'd been a grand idea if "I" continued laying the same paving down the side of the house, particularly as it'd be a close match to the colour driveway. So on I slogged and it was a slog 'cos it was really deep sand between the houses, at least we didn't need to source anymore though !

Although the solid groundwork was a painful experience it's provided a reliable base as non of the slabs have moved. There is also sufficient slope on the patio for excess rainwater to pool on the garden side until it either drains or evaporates away. I even try to incorporate a pre-existing drain on the side of the conservatory that would help to drain any excess water but fortunately it's never rain so much to test that "theory".

You'll find more pic's here.

Conservatory '03

Crown Conservatory, Windows and Doors who had installed our windows also took on this slightly more ambitious project. Once again, Schuco glazing was employed along with a slightly different roof from another manufacturer that was believed to be superior.

We saved a few pennies by removing our manky old conservatory, which was quite a satisfying start to the project. The builders started sometime in June or July and endured some hard graft digging out the footings, which were deeper than the house ! Pretty much the same team stayed with the project and steady process was made throughout the summer. Once the brickwork was in position we went away for the weekend and came back to find that they aluminium framework was installed. For the first time we began to appreciate the final dimensions this mini extension was going to take, gulp it's big. The glazing went on in a couple of days which meant that the window could be removed as it was now to be narrower doorway. A well insulated slab floor went down, plumbers, electricians came and went before the builders returned to crack on with the plastering.

Painting the high wall in the conservatory requires a good ladder and a steady hand. We opted to install a top flight fan from Fantasia which would help keep it cooler in summer and also recycle the hotter, higher air in the winter. A 10 year warranty helped to swing the sale as well.

The beauty of the wide, full house width conservatory that we opted for, meant that we could now have a dining table permentantly in place which has worked out well as we still have ample room for two leather sofa's in the other half. Though I sometimes think that a living area with four sofa's (with 2 in the adjoining living room) is somewhat excessive.

It was almost into December before we finished decorating the conservatory, living room and staircase where we had a very grand Xmas with the folks and grand folks.

Caroline and Karen of Sheer Elegance did a fantastic job with out roman blinds and really went that extra mile to ensure that everything fitted perfectly.

Due to the severe heat of summer, pinoleum hardwood roof blinds were later installed by Prestige Conservatory Blinds were around 30% cheaper than their rival, Appeal. Fitting these has been essential as during bright sunny days you'd need to wear sunglasses whilst eating your breakfast. The blinds themselves are adjustable running on discrete cables and are warranted for 10 years. They can't be that bad as Lady Tavistock over at Woburn has them !

You'll find more pic's here.

Stairs '03

While we were changing the living room around a little we decided to take the plunge and sort out the staircase. Originally, it sat in the corner of the living room and turned back on itself (to the left) halfway up, which was fine. However, in the winter you'd spend all evening trying to get the living room warm and once you were comfortable it was time to go to bed 'cos all the warmth had seeped upstairs - which would then be baking hot by late evening !

Our plan was to reverse the staircase and box in the upper flight that would then sit in the living room. This would mean loosing the downstairs loo and although it's a good selling point (on paper) it's a royal pain in our house as the door clashes with the living room door, a great design - not.

We asked for quote from local carpenters but only one was willing to take on the job but not only did they want to charge mega bucks, they also wanted to install a supporting leg in the middle of the unsupported upper flight which would have looked ugly. A little surfing revealed Stairplan a company that were able to supply any staircase as a kit, you just send them the relevant design and dimensions. They confirmed that a supporting pillar would not be needed as the upper flight would be supported by a joist and the mid section by the outside wall - thank you. They were very patient with me and helped to ensure that the order was correct before it was assembled in their factory. It was delivered on time and we spent a day removing the old manky stairs and downstairs toilet, including the back wall. We had AnneH staying with us that bank holiday wkend so she got roped in and getting upstairs to use the loo or go to be meant using a step ladder for a couple of days. The pre assembled lower flight went into position very easily but the upper flight ( again pre assembled) needed lifting into and out of position for around a day and a half. The joist and wall weren't quite square and my measurements had been a fudge with the original staircase being still in place. So we teased back the joist a little and made room in the plaster on the outer wall until it dropped nicely into position. After a couple more hours assembling the loose middle flight, we then had a shiny new staircase. You could tell that Stairplan had errected our stairs before hand as every fitting needed was present in the kit, brilliant.

We used a mixture of cast iron and wooden banister fittings from Richard Burbidge, as ordered and delivered in the Stairplan kit, which looks the business. A few repairs to walls, plaster , boarding up of the underside of the upper flight (that is now visible in the living room), coving and paint had this little project finished. It's now nice to now be able to close the living room door if someone is upstairs sleeping, to have a toasty warm living room and we don't miss clashing of doors or the grotty downstairs loo at all. A job well done me thinks.

You'll find pic's here.

Living Room '03

With the stairs modification and conservatory work meaning that the patio doors were being removed, the window being changed into a door we decided to re-decorate the living room. Not much of it would be left after all that. The replastering off the new doorways would be done by the builders, along with a huge 5ft square patch of plaster that fell off one wall when I *ahem* investigated *ahem* a bulge.

Another major change that we were keen to execute was to replace the original brick fireplace with a more contempory, slim and clean lined unit. The removal was quick and easy and the new fireplace / surround / etc was fitted as part of the deal with the fitter who replaced the boiler. Otherwise it was simple paint job to match the conservatory and the jobs a good 'un.

Most of the dark wood and hand-me-down furniture was replaced with lighter and more importantly new replacements to complete the effect that we were looking for.

You'll find pic's here.

Central Heating '03

The original boiler must have been some 20 years old by now and although it had never let us down it was getting mighty noisy. A kinda of pop, pop would resonate throughout the house and could easily be heard at the other end of the property, which made sleeping about the boiler a sleepless afair. So we decided to take the plunge and replace the boiler and have the system checked over at the same time.

The new boiler was so much quieter and smaller than the old cast iron unit and boy did it kick out some heat. At the time we also decided to remove the original thermostat which was right outside the kitchen door and would shutdown the heating if you were cooking, resulting in a cold house. Instead we installed a wireless system that meant we could take the thermostat wherever we wanted and fit it wherever we thought best. In use, we found the new generation of small, double skinned radiators fitted in the conservatory were so efficient that we decided to replace the rest of the rad's throughout the house. Toasty.

However, after 6 months or so the pop, pop of the boiler returned and our fitter returned to try a few things including fitting a swirl pot above the pump, replacing the pump and cylinder. These stopped the occasional cavitation noise but the pop, pop would return a few weeks after draining the system. A flush (for a couple of hours) at the boiler side didn't resolve the issue either. He even tried some "quietening" fluid that seemed like a last ditch attempt to me and sure enough the noise returned. The fitter then ignored us and recommended that we speak to the boiler company, Gloworm, as he thought it was a dodgy boiler. Gloworm then blamed the installation, so we were going nuts fast. Eventually, we tracked down a another fitter (Service Gas) who was willing to try a few more alterations. They changed the three-way valve and removed the swirl pot and re-positioned the h-gate higher up, further way from the pump before giving the system a thorough flush. The Flush took nearly all day, positioned at the pump and involved turning off all the radiators and switching just one back on in turn until the system was clean. Boy was it dirty with all the junk that had been thrown at it. Success ! They'd resolved the noises, hurrah we could sleep in peace again.

Windows '03

The property originally came fitted with the original wooden windows and Everest secondary glazing that did a good job of keeping the noise out but wasn't so good at keeping the cold at bay ! I spent a good few weeks one summer stripping off all the external black paintwork and staining them a nice brown colour but after 10years of occupancy they were well passed their best, not least because they weren't secure.

After the typical speal from numerous salesmen we chose the straight talking Crown Convservatory, Windows and Doors who installs quality Schuco windows which have top quality frames that are not only secure but also use decent glass which is tough, reflective of the sun rays (std these days) and that won't warp or ripple like cheaper windows.

All seven windows were easily fitted in a couple of days and apart from some heavy handed "labourer" all went without a hitch. Said numpty managed to take a big chunk out of a window recess which was rebuilt easily enough and it was a good job that we were planning on fitting a new kitchen 'cos he also managed to take a chunk out of the laminate worktop !

They've helped keep the house warmer, draft free and feel good and solid so hopefully they'll provide many years of maintenance free service.

CCTV circa 91

After a couple of "incidents" on our driveway we decided to invest in a closed circuit television system and install a series of cameras on the front of the property. At the time the only products available were hitech VHS recorders which pushed up the installation cost considerably but the peace of mind and lack of subsequent damage go come way to off setting the outlay. Unfortunately the switching unit that was installed had a built in buzzer that kept us awake during the first night, until we popped off the lid and stuffed the PCB mounted buzzer full of cotton. We gradually got used to the tick, tick, tick of the recorder which was buried inside our built in wardrobe.

This system worked fine for some 5 years but is now in need of some maintenance and subsequent surfing (Apr'06) has revealed a much more compact system that won't break the bank. Instead of VHS tapes that need continuously replacing every few months, this stores it's high quality images, silently on an internal hard drive. I'm sure that the camera quality will also be superior to our old system.

Driveway circa '97 ?

The original driveway was a weak and rapidly crumbling tarmac affair that only allowed a single parking space directly outside the garage. Block paving seemed like the mainstream choice but the effort and subsequent cost was high and I'd seen many instances where they'd subsided. A scan of the yellow pages revealed a product that didn't use blocks but a glass fibre reinforced concrete that could most colours and patterns of your choice. It would subside and weeds wouldn't grow up between the bricks, a result.

Paverprint (based in Northampton at the time) installed of a double width drive only took a couple of days and it's proved to be 100% maintenance free and still looks good after some10 years of use. Although we really ought to reapply the sealant coat to make it look like new.

Garden

Has been an ongoing project since I acquired the property in October '93.

The front originally had a low laurel hedge and a couple of tired trees guarding a couple of patches of lawn either side of the driveway. The driveway modification (above) means that we now have a thin slip of heather on the garage side boundary and a larger border between our other neighbour.

The rear has taken much more work to get to it's current state and I suspect that it'll take a little more to get it 100% - if that's ever possible ? Originally, it was a large patch of green lawn with a raised border on the left wrapping around a fairly large, yet unusable patio and conservatory. The raised border was first to go which revealed a manhole cover under some three feet of earth and allowed us to extend the patio a little. Another phase was to dig the patio back around feet, install a pond on the right and extend the patio a further five feet on the left. This took a surprising number of skips to complete and the clay often needed a pick axe rather than shovel to excavate ! These modifications were sufficient to include the new conservatory (above) and yet still retain a good balance of patio and garden. The lawn has gradually been receding over the years and the top section has never grown properly as it's heavily shaded. When I first acquired the garden it contained a large number of roses that hadn't been maintained properly so they soon came out and have been replaced with a fairly balanced selection of plants although we have to be careful to use plants that will survive in the predominantly clay environment. Over the years, I've repeatedly dug in more and more gravel, grit, sand and compost which has helped to create a reasonable soil but the most important addition of late has been an automatic watering system - from Gardena. No longer do we loose plants to the extremes of temperature and moisture.

Porch circa '96

As our hallway is a long and narrow affair it seemed sensible to install a porch in the garage overhang that could house a shoe rack and even the recycling boxes if it was extended a little. It didn't take long to rip up the slabs and whack down a firm base on which a friend of a friend bricked up a small wall and pillar. A door frame and door was easily installed in the pre-made gap and a sloping roof at the base of a full length window completed the job.

We now not only have room for shoes and green waste but also a small tumble drier has slotted in their nicely. Another plus, is that it helps to keep out the drafts in winter.

Serving Hatch circa ?

Shortly after I first moved in, noticed that the serving hatch was a pain as the rattling glass panes did little to deaden the sound of a washing machine at full chat. When buying the house it seemed mighty odd that a serving hatch would be positioned into the living room, complete with gas fire particularly when you consider that there was no dining room ! As a lintle was already in place about this ugly hole I set to wrenching out the framework and blocking it back up. Not a great deal of bricky-ing was needed and a touch of plaster board, skim of plaster, sand and a lick of paint were all that was needed to redefine the two rooms as they should be.

You'll find pic's here.

Kitchen - First Hack circa ?

After living in the house for only a short while, I realised that the kitchen was badly executed. The first problem was a large island / breakfast bar behind the door that housed a small fridge and unit. It was so large that you had to side step around it and could barely sit around the otherside. One positive point was that it was a huge, double depth work surface - something else which was sorely lacking. This had to go but where would I then put a fridge ? Well, three quarters of the way down the kitchen sat a tallboy with a mighty dark, single width work surface tucked right in the corner. So it seemed sensible to move the tallboy right into the corner and install a fridge freeze in it's original position.

The fridge and tallboy reshuffle worked a treat and allowed the installation of a decent sized fridge and freezer, phew. The island / breakfast bar was chopped into a 2/3rd and 3rd length and fitted in the corner as a now fair breakfast bar.

These modifications must have been ok as they lasted a few years until the entire kitchen was ripped out and replaced with something more suitable.